Recording apparatus

ABSTRACT

A recording apparatus includes a lower tray configured to store a recording medium, an upper tray which is provided above the lower tray and configured to store a recording medium, and a feeding roller capable of contacting each of the recording medium stored in the lower tray and the recording medium stored in the upper tray from above. The lower tray and the upper tray are attached to and detached from an apparatus body including a recording unit and the feeding roller, independently from each other.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to a recording apparatus including two ormore trays which are detachably mounted to an apparatus body and whichstore a recording medium.

2. Related Art

Paper feed cassettes detachably mounted to an apparatus body have beenwidely used. In addition, a configuration including two or more paperfeed cassettes as upper and lower cassettes and capable of feedingsheets from each paper feed cassette has been widely known. As discussedin JP-A-11-139598, such configurations include a configuration in whicha paper feed roller is arranged between upper and lower paper feedcassettes and the paper feed roller is shared by the upper and lowerpaper feed cassettes, because the size of the apparatus may become largeand costs for the apparatus may increase if each of the paper feedcassettes is provided with a paper feed mechanism.

In addition, as discussed in JP-A-2006-273565 and JP-A-2007-91445, thereis a configuration including one detachable paper cassette (tray) havinga two-layer structure including lower and upper paper storage portions.In this paper cassette, the upper and lower cassettes are integrallystructured and the upper cassette is configured to be pivotable andslidable in relation to the lower cassette. Furthermore, when feeding asheet from the lower cassette, the upper cassette is allowed to slide soas not to hinder the use of the lower cassette. As a result, the paperfeed roller may contact the sheet stored in the lower cassette.

However, because the paper feed roller is configured to contact a bottomsheet among sheets stored in the upper paper cassette in theabove-described configuration according to JP-A-11-139598, the weight ofthe sheet bundle changes depending on the number of stored sheets.Accordingly, the paper feeding condition may easily change. Therefore,it is difficult to achieve an optimum design for appropriately feedingsheets.

In addition, in the above-described configurations according toJP-A-2006-273565 and JP-A-2007-91445, if sheets are to be stored in thelower cassette only, the upper cassette also is to be detached, forexample. Furthermore, operations for sliding and pivoting the uppercassette are required. Accordingly, the ease of use becomes low.

SUMMARY

An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that a recordingapparatus including two or more paper cassettes is capable of improvingthe ease with which sheets may be set to the cassette. Note thatalthough a paper storage portion for storing sheets included in arecording apparatus is referred to by various terms, such as “cassette”,“tray”, and the like, the term “tray” is used herein.

According to an aspect of the invention, a recording apparatus includesa recording unit configured to execute recording on a recording medium,a lower tray configured to store a recording medium, an upper tray whichis provided above the lower tray and configured to store a recordingmedium, and a feeding roller capable of contacting each of the recordingmedium stored in the lower tray and the recording medium stored in theupper tray from above. The lower tray and the upper tray are attached toand detached from an apparatus body including the recording unit and thefeeding roller, independently from each other.

According to the aspect, the lower tray and the upper tray may beattached to and detached from the apparatus body including the recordingunit and the feeding roller, independently from each other. Accordingly,in setting the recording medium onto one tray, it is not necessary todraw out the other tray. Therefore, the ease of setting the recordingmedium in the recording apparatus having two or more trays may beimproved.

It is preferable that, in a state in which one of the lower tray and theupper tray has not been mounted to the apparatus body and the other ofthe lower tray and the upper tray has been mounted to the apparatusbody, the recording medium be fed by the feeding roller from the otherthereof.

According to the above structure, in a state in which one of the lowertray and the upper tray has not been mounted to the apparatus body andthe other tray has been mounted to the apparatus body, the recordingmedium may be fed by the feeding roller from the other tray.Accordingly, the apparatus may be more easily handled.

It is preferable that the feeding roller be supported at an intermediateposition, which is lower than a position of the feeding roller reachedwhen the feeding roller contacts a bottom surface of the upper tray andhigher than a position of the feeding roller reached when the feedingroller contacts a recording medium set as a top sheet in the lower trayin a state in which a maximum number of recording media are stored inthe lower tray, in a state of the upper tray and the lower tray beingdetached.

Suppose that a configuration is employed in which the feeding roller isretracted upward in the state of the upper and lower trays beingdetached so that the feeding roller does not abut onto both the upperand the lower trays. In this case, a supporting portion for supportingthe feeding roller at the retracted position in the state of the upperand lower trays being detached becomes necessary. Furthermore, in thiscase, it is necessary to provide each of the lower tray and the uppertray with a configuration for releasing the state of the feeding rollerbeing supported at the upper position by the supporting portion.Therefore, as a result, the apparatus configuration may becomecomplicated and the costs for the apparatus may increase.

However, according to the above structure, the feeding roller issupported at the above-described intermediate position in the state ofthe upper and lower trays being detached, the upper tray may push asidethe roller support member when the upper tray is mounted. Accordingly,the configuration for releasing the state of the feeding roller beingsupported at the intermediate position is not necessary for the uppertray. As a result, the size of the apparatus and the costs for theapparatus may be decreased in the recording apparatus including two ormore trays.

Furthermore, it is preferable that, when moving the upper tray to anabutting position in a mounting direction, the feeding roller bedisplaced upward from the intermediate position when the upper tray ismoved, and subsequently the feeding roller be allowed to descend to aposition at which the feeding roller contacts the recording mediumstored in the upper tray.

In addition, it is further preferable that, when moving the lower trayto an abutting position in a mounting direction, the support of thefeeding roller at the intermediate position is released by the lowertray and the feeding roller be allowed to descend to a position at whichthe feeding roller contacts the recording medium stored in the lowertray.

Moreover, it is preferable that the recording apparatus further includea discharged sheet-receiving tray capable of shifting between a positionin a state of the discharged sheet-receiving tray being stored in theapparatus body and a position in a state of the dischargedsheet-receiving tray protruding from the apparatus body and, when therecording medium is fed from the upper tray or the lower tray, thedischarged sheet-receiving tray be located at a position in the state ofthe discharged sheet-receiving tray protruding from the apparatus body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, wherein like numbers reference like elements.

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view illustrating a printer accordingto the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view illustrating the printeraccording to the invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates elements on larger scale of the apparatus frontsurface of the printer according to the invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a lower tray.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating an upper tray.

FIG. 6 is a sectional side view illustrating a sheet transport path ofthe printer according to the invention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional side view illustrating the sheet transport path ofthe printer according to the invention.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating a supporting portion forsupporting an intermediate position of a feeding roller.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view illustrating the supporting portion forsupporting the intermediate position of the feeding roller and the lowertray.

FIG. 10 is an overall perspective view illustrating a state of thesupporting portion being mounted for supporting the intermediateposition of the feeding roller.

FIG. 11 is a partial magnified perspective view illustrating a state ofthe supporting portion being mounted for supporting the intermediateposition of the feeding roller.

FIG. 12 is a cross section of a rock member and a frame.

FIG. 13 is a sectional side view illustrating the sheet transport pathof the printer according to the invention.

FIG. 14 is a sectional side view illustrating the sheet transport pathof the printer according to the invention.

FIG. 15 is a sectional side view illustrating the sheet transport pathof the printer according to the invention.

FIG. 16 is a sectional side view illustrating the sheet transport pathof the printer according to the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Hereinbelow, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will bedescribed with reference to the attached drawings. Note that theinvention is not limited to exemplary embodiments of the inventiondescribed below. More specifically, the invention may be implemented byvarious modifications within the scope of the invention as defined inthe claims appended hereto. An exemplary embodiment of the inventionwill be described based on the premise that such modifications areincluded in the scope of the invention.

FIGS. 1 and 2 are external perspective views illustrating an ink jetprinter (hereinafter simply referred to as a “printer”) 1, which is anexemplary embodiment of a “recording apparatus” according to theinvention. FIG. 3 illustrates elements on larger scale on the apparatusfront surface of the printer 1 in a state in which upper and lower traysare not mounted yet. FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a lowertray 50. FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating an upper tray 60.

In addition, FIGS. 6 and 7 are sectional side views illustrating a sheettransport path of the printer 1. FIG. 8 is a perspective viewillustrating a supporting portion 39 configured to support anintermediate position of a feeding roller 10. FIG. 9 is a perspectiveview illustrating the supporting portion 39 and the lower tray 50. FIG.10 is an overall perspective view illustrating a state in which thesupporting portion 39 is mounted. FIG. 11 is a partial magnifiedperspective view illustrating a state of the supporting portion 39 beingmounted. FIG. 12 is a cross section of a rock member 11, which is aroller supporting member, and the frame 39. Furthermore, FIGS. 13through 16 are sectional side views illustrating the sheet transportpath of the printer 1.

1. Outline Configuration of the Printer

The outline configuration of the printer 1 will be generally describedwith reference to FIGS. 1 through 7. The printer 1 includes a scannerunit 3, which is provided above an apparatus body (recording unit) 2configured to execute ink jet recording on a recording sheet that is anexample of a recording medium. In other words, the ink jet printer 1 isconfigured as an MFP having a scanner function in addition to an ink jetrecording function.

The scanner unit 3 is provided pivotably in relation to the recordingunit 2. The posture of the scanner unit 3 may be shifted between aclosed posture (FIG. 1) and an open posture (not illustrated) bypivoting. In the scanner unit 3, an openable/closable cover 4 isprovided in an upper portion thereof. By opening the cover 4, a documentstand 3 a (FIGS. 6 and 7) of the scanner unit 3 appears.

On the apparatus front surface, an operation panel 5 is provided, whichincludes a power switch, operation buttons for executing various printsettings and recording, a display unit configured to display content ofthe print settings and a preview image of an image to be printed, andthe like.

In addition, on the front surface of the apparatus, an openable/closablecover 59 is arranged on the lower tray 50. FIG. 1 illustrates a state inwhich the cover 59 is closed. FIG. 2 illustrates a state in which thecover 59 is opened. The lower tray 50, the upper tray 60, and adischarged sheet-receiving tray 8 appear when the cover 59 is opened.

The discharged sheet-receiving tray 8 is configured to be in a state inwhich the discharged sheet-receiving tray 8 is stored in the apparatusbody 2 (FIGS. 1 and 2) or a state in which the dischargedsheet-receiving tray 8 protrudes toward the front of the apparatus body2 (FIGS. 6 and 7) by a motor (not illustrated). When the dischargedsheet-receiving tray 8 is in the state in which the dischargedsheet-receiving tray 8 protrudes toward the front of the apparatus body2, the discharged sheet-receiving tray 8 may receive a recording sheetdischarged after recording is executed thereon.

The lower tray 50 and the upper tray 60, which is provided above thelower tray 50, may store a plurality of recording sheets and may bedetachably mounted to the apparatus body 2 independently from eachother. In addition, as will be described in detail below, even if one ofthe lower tray 50 and the upper tray 60 is not mounted, the otherthereof, which is mounted, may feed a recording sheet. Referring to FIG.3, lower guide rails 36 guide the lower tray 50 in theattaching/detaching direction and support the lower tray 50. Upper guiderails 35 guide the upper tray 60 in the attaching/detaching directionand support the upper tray 60.

As described above, the lower tray 50 and the upper tray 60 may beattached to and detached from the apparatus body 2 independently fromeach other. In setting sheets onto one of the trays 50 and 60, it is notnecessary to draw out the other thereof. With this configuration, theease of setting sheets in the recording apparatus having two or moretrays may be improved.

Note that as will be described below, the upper tray 60 is configured soas to be slidably displaced between a retracted position (FIG. 6) and anabutting position (FIG. 7) in the state in which the upper tray 60 ismounted to the apparatus body 2. The upper tray 60 is in a “mountedstate” regardless of being in the retracted position, abutting position,or a position between the retracted position and the abutting position.Furthermore, if the upper tray 60 is positioned at a position further tothe front of the retracted position (further rightward from the positionillustrated in FIG. 6), the upper tray 60 is in an incomplete mountingstate, i.e., an “unmounted state”.

The lower tray 50 is in the “mounted state” when the lower tray 50 iscompletely pushed to the abutting position (FIGS. 6 and 7). If the lowertray 50 is not in this state, the lower tray 50 is in the “unmountedstate”. However, hereinbelow, an “upper and lower trays-unmounted state”refers to a state in which both the lower tray 50 and the upper tray 60are dismounted from the apparatus body 2.

A manual feed cover 6 is provided in the rear upper portion of theapparatus body 2. When the manual feed cover 6 is opened, the recordingsheets may be manually fed by utilizing a manual feed tray 7 (FIGS. 6and 7).

A sheet transport path of the printer 1 will be described with referenceto FIGS. 6 and 7. The printer 1 according to the exemplary embodiment isprovided with the lower tray 50 and the upper tray 60 in the bottomportion of the apparatus. The recording sheets are fed from the lowertray 50 or the upper tray 60 sheet by sheet.

The upper tray 60 may slide (may be displaced) between a paper feedableposition (FIG. 7) and the retracted position (FIG. 6). The upper tray 60is configured to be displaced between the paper feedable position (FIG.7) and the retracted position (FIG. 6) by the power of a motor (notillustrated).

Note that in FIGS. 6 and 7, a sheet P1 is stored in the lower tray 50and a sheet P2 is stored in the upper tray 60. Hereinbelow, the sheetsP1 and P2 are collectively referred to as a “sheet P” or “sheets P”unless it is necessary to distinguish between them.

The rock member 11, which rocks around a pivot shaft 12, is providedwith a feeding roller (pickup roller) 10 that is rotationally driven bya motor (not illustrated). When the upper tray 60 is in a state of beingslid most toward the apparatus front (i.e., rightward in FIGS. 6 and 7(to the side of drawing out the upper tray 60)), in other words, whenthe upper tray 60 is in the retracted position (the state illustrated inFIG. 6), the feeding roller 10 contacts a top sheet of the sheets P1stored in the lower tray 50 and rotates in this state to feed the topsheet P1 from the lower tray 50.

In addition, when the upper tray 60 is positioned at the abuttingposition at which the upper tray 60 has slid most toward the rear sideof the apparatus (i.e., leftward in FIGS. 6 and 7 (in the direction ofmounting the upper tray 60 and in the sheet feed direction)), in otherwords, when the upper tray 60 is positioned at the paper feedableposition (the state illustrated in FIG. 7), the feeding roller 10contacts a top sheet of the sheets P2 stored in the upper tray 60 androtates in this state to feed the top sheet P2 from the upper tray 60.Note that even if one of the lower tray 50 and the upper tray 60 is notmounted, sheets may be fed from the other thereof that is mounted. Withthis configuration, the sheet may be flexibly fed and thereby theapparatus may be more easily handled.

Note that in the exemplary embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 8, thepivot shaft 12 constitutes a rocking shaft of the rock member 11. Inaddition, the pivot shaft 12 turns by the power of the motor (notillustrated) to transmit the power from a transmission gear 13, which isprovided in the pivot shaft 12, to a transmission receiving gear 15,which is provided integrally with the feeding roller 10, via a geartrain 14. Note that in the exemplary embodiment, the feeding rollers 10are provided at both sides of the transmission receiving gear 15.

Returning to FIGS. 6 and 7, the apparatus body 2 is provided with aseparation slope 16, which is provided at a position opposing leadingedges of the lower tray 50 and the upper tray 60. In a state in whichthe lower tray 50 has been mounted, a stopper 50 d (FIG. 4), which isprovided at the leading edge of the lower tray 50, enters the back ofthe separation slope 16 (leftward in FIG. 6). In this state, the leadingedge of the sheet stored in the lower tray 50 may contact the separationslope 16.

In addition, in the upper tray 60, in a state in which the upper tray 60is positioned at the paper feedable position (the abutting positionillustrated in FIG. 7), a stopper 60 c, which is provided at the leadingedge of the upper tray 60, enters the back of the separation slope 16.In this state, the leading edge of the sheet stored in the upper tray 60may contact the separation slope 16.

The sheet P, which is fed from the lower tray 50 or the upper tray 60and which is transported toward the downstream side while the leadingedge thereof keeps contacting the separation slope 16. The top sheet Pto be fed is thus separated from the other sheets P stored below the topsheet.

On the downstream side of the separation slope 16, an intermediateroller 17, which is rotationally driven by a motor (not illustrated), isprovided. The sheet P is bent and reversed by the intermediate roller 17to be transported toward the apparatus front. Note that driven rollers19 through 21 may be driven to be rotated. The sheet P is nipped atleast by the driven roller 19 and the intermediate roller 17 and is thennipped by the driven roller 20 and the intermediate roller 17 to betransported toward the downstream side.

On the downstream side of the intermediate roller 17, a transport driveroller 24, which is rotationally driven by a motor (not illustrated),and a transport driven roller 25, which contacts the transport driveroller 24 to be rotationally driven, are provided. The sheet P istransported by the rollers 24 and 25 to a position below a recordinghead 30.

The recording head 30 configured to eject an ink is provided at a bottomof a carriage 29. The carriage 29 is driven by a motor (not illustrated)so as to reciprocate in the main scanning direction (in a directionperpendicular to the surface of the sheet in FIGS. 6 and 7).

A support member 28 is provided at a position opposing the recordinghead 30. The support member 28 regulates the clearance between the sheetP and the recording head 30. On the downstream side of the supportmember 28, a discharge drive roller 31, which is rotationally driven bya motor (not illustrated), and a discharge driven roller 32, whichcontacts the discharge drive roller 31 to be rotationally driven, areprovided. After recording by the recording head 30 is carried out on thesheet P, the sheet P is discharged by the rollers 31 and 32 toward theabove-described discharged sheet-receiving tray 8.

2. Details of the Paper Feed Mechanism

The outline configuration of the printer 1 is described above.Hereinbelow, the paper feed mechanism including the feeding roller 10will be described in detail. The lower tray 50 is provided with an edgeguide 52 (FIGS. 6 and 7), which is provided on a bottom surface 50 a(FIG. 4) thereof and which may slide in the sheet feeding direction. Theedge guide 52 guides the position of the trailing edge. Note that thesheet feeding direction (the direction of feeding sheets from the lowertray 50 or the upper tray 60) herein refers to the leftward direction inFIGS. 6 and 7 and a sheet lengthwise direction and a direction ofsliding the upper tray 60 refer to the lateral direction in FIGS. 6 andV. Furthermore, a sheet width direction refers to the directionperpendicular to the sheet surface of FIGS. 6 and 7.

The lower tray 50 is provided with edge guides 51A and 51B (FIG. 4),which may slide in the sheet width direction. The edge guides 51A and51B regulate the position of side edges of the sheet. In the exemplaryembodiment, the two edge guides 51A and 51B for regulating the sideedges of the sheet may be displaced in synchronization with each otherso that they are symmetrically positioned with respect to the centerposition in the sheet width direction. In other words, in the printer 1according to the exemplary embodiment, the center position in the sheetwidth direction is set as a feed reference position (the same appliesfor the upper tray 60).

A high friction material 53 is arranged on the bottom surface 50 a ofthe lower tray 50 at a location near a location corresponding to thecontact position between the feeding roller 10 and the sheet P1. Thehigh friction material 53 is configured to retain a sheet bundle so thatthe sheet bundle is prevented from being transported to the downstreamside at the time of feeding the sheet by the feeding roller 10.

The lower tray 50 is provided with a stopper 50 d, which is provided onthe side of the sheet leading edge (the left side in FIG. 4) andconfigured to regulate the position of the sheet leading edge. Thestopper 50 d is configured to prevent the sheet to be set to the lowertray 50 from going out of the lower tray 50 when the sheet is set. Notethat when the lower tray 50 is mounted to the apparatus body 2, thestopper 50 d enters backwards in the apparatus to the back of theseparation slope 16 and thus the stopper 50 d does not contact theleading edge of the sheet to be fed. In other words, the stopper 50 ddoes not inhibit the feeding of the sheet at the time of feeding thesheet.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, similarly to the lower tray 50, the upper tray60 is provided with an edge guide 62, which may slide in the sheetlengthwise direction, edge guides 61A and 61B, which may slide in thesheet width direction, and a stopper 60 c, which are provided on abottom surface 60 a of the upper tray 60. In addition, a high frictionmaterial 63 is provided near a location corresponding to the contactposition between the feeding roller 10 and the sheet P2.

The upper tray 60 is configured to be slidable in the sheet feeddirection as described above in the state in which the upper tray 60 ismounted to the apparatus body 2. On an upper surface of one edge of theupper tray 60, a rack portion 60 b is formed along the direction ofsliding the upper tray 60. A rack and pinion mechanism is structured bythe engagement of a pinion gear (not illustrated) to the rack portion 60b. The upper tray 60 is displaced by sliding between the paper feedableposition (the abutting position illustrated in FIG. 7) and the retractedposition (FIG. 6) by the rotation of the pinion gear caused by the powerof a motor (not illustrated).

The supporting portion 39 configured to support the feeding roller 10 atan intermediate position will be described below. FIG. 13 illustrates astate in which the upper tray 60 is mounted in a state in which both thelower tray 50 and the upper tray 60 have been dismounted from theapparatus body 2 (hereinafter simply referred to as a “upper and lowertrays-unmounted state”). In the upper and lower trays-unmounted state,the feeding roller 10 is supported at the intermediate position (at aposition H2 in FIG. 13), which is lower than the position (a position H3in FIG. 13) of the feeding roller 10 when the feeding roller 10 contactsthe bottom surface 60 a of the upper tray 60 and higher than theposition of the feeding roller 10 when the feeding roller 10 contactsthe sheet P1 in a state in which the maximum number of sheets P1 arestored in the lower tray 50 (a position H1 in FIG. 13). As describedabove, the supporting portion 39 is configured to support the feedingroller 10 at the intermediate position H2 in the upper and lowertrays-unmounted state.

When the upper tray 60 is inserted into the apparatus body 2 in thisstate (in a direction indicated by a black solid arrow in FIGS. 13 and14), in the course of moving of the upper tray 60 to the abuttingposition (FIG. 7) in the mounting direction, the stopper 60 c formed onthe upper tray 60 engages a cam follower 11 a formed on the rock member11. Thus the rock member 11 is pushed upwards and the state thereof ischanged from the state illustrated in FIG. 13 to the state illustratedin FIG. 14. Accordingly, the feeding roller 10 is displaced upward fromthe intermediate position H2. After that, when the engagement betweenthe stopper 60 c and the cam follower 11 a is released, the feedingroller 10 descends to a position at which the feeding roller 10 contactsthe sheet P2 stored in the upper tray 60 (FIG. 7). Note that a guidingslope 11 b is formed on the leading edge of the cam follower 11 a. Whenthe upper tray 60 is drawn out in the state illustrated in FIG. 7, thestopper 60 c abuts onto the guiding slope 11 b. Thus, the rock member 11is pushed upward again.

When the lower tray 50 is inserted into the apparatus body 2 in theupper and lower trays-unmounted state (in a direction indicated by ablack solid arrow in FIG. 15), in the course of moving of the lower tray50 to the abutting position (FIGS. 6 and 16) in the mounting direction,a pressing portion 50 e (FIGS. 4 and 9), which is formed on the leadingedge of the lower tray 50, engages the supporting portion 39. Thus thesupport of the feeding roller 10 by the supporting portion 39 at theintermediate position H2 is released. Accordingly, the feeding roller 10descends from the intermediate position H2 to the position of contactwith the sheet P1 stored in the lower tray 50 and the state thereof ischanged from the state illustrated in FIG. 15 to the state illustratedin FIG. 16.

The behavior of the feeding roller 10 when each tray is mounted is asdescribed above. The configuration of the supporting portion 39 will bedescribed in detail below. As illustrated in FIGS. 8 through 10, thesupporting portion 39 is provided with a slider 43 and a lever member.The slider 43 may slide in the mounting direction of the lower tray 50and in a direction reverse to the mounting direction of the lower tray50 and may engage the lower tray 50. The lever member is configured todisplace the position of the feeding roller 10 to the intermediateposition by contacting the rock member 11. The lever member includes apivot shaft 40, which is pivotable, a first lever 41, which is providedat one end of the pivot shaft 40 and configured to engage the rockmember 11, and a second lever 42, which is provide at the other end ofthe pivot shaft 40 and capable of engaging the slider 43. In addition,the supporting portion 39 includes a coil spring 44 (illustrated inFIGS. 8 and 10 but not illustrated in FIG. 9), which is an axialpressing portion for pressing the pivot shaft 40 in the direction ofpressing the rock member 11 upwards by the first lever 41.

Referring to FIG. 10, a frame 34 (not illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9) isprovided with the slider 43, the pivot shaft 40, and the rock member 11.The coil spring 44 exerts a pressing force between the frame 34 and thesecond lever 42 and presses the rock member 11 in the direction ofpushing the rock member 11 (a lever engagement portion 11 c of the rockmember 11) upward via the second lever 42, the pivot shaft 40, and thefirst lever 41. Accordingly, when the slider 43 is in a state in whichthe slider 43 does not engage the lower tray 50 (the pressing portion 50e), i.e., in the unmounted state of the lower tray 50, the feedingroller 10 is supported at the intermediate position H2.

In addition, in this state, the second lever 42 presses a secondengagement portion 43 b of the slider 43 in a direction of drawing outthe tray. Accordingly, the slider 43 is positioned in the tray draw-outdirection in its sliding range. When the lower tray 50 is mounted, thefirst engagement portion 43 a of the slider 43 and the pressing portion50 e provided on the leading edge of the lower tray 50 engage eachother. In this state, the slider 43 is pressed in the direction ofmounting the lower tray 50. In this state, the second engagement portion43 b of the slider 43 causes the pivot shaft 40 to pivot via the secondlever 42 against the pressing force from the coil spring 44.Furthermore, the tip of the first lever 41 descends and the rock member11 is allowed to rock. Then the support of the pivot shaft 40 at theintermediate position H2 is released, the feeding roller 10 descends,and thus the feeding roller 10 may contact the sheet P1 stored in thelower tray 50.

An action and an effect of the supporting portion 39 will be describedbelow. Suppose that a configuration is employed in which the feedingroller 10 is retracted upward in the upper and lower trays-unmountedstate so that the feeding roller 10 does not abut onto both the upperand the lower trays. In this case, a supporting portion for supportingthe feeding roller 10 at the retracted position in the upper and lowertrays-unmounted state becomes necessary. Furthermore, in this case, itis necessary to provide each of the lower tray 50 and the upper tray 60with a configuration for releasing the state of supporting the feedingroller 10 at the upper position by the corresponding supporting portion.Therefore, as a result, the apparatus configuration may becomecomplicated and the costs for the apparatus may increase.

However, according to the exemplary embodiment, as described above, thefeeding roller 10 is supported at the intermediate position H2 in theupper and lower trays-unmounted state, the upper tray 60 itself pushesaside the rock member 11 when the upper tray 60 is mounted, and thefeeding roller 10 is configured to descend to the position of contactwith the sheet P2 stored in the upper tray 60. In other words, in theexemplary embodiment, the configuration for releasing the state ofsupporting the feeding roller 10 at the intermediate position H2 may beprovided only for the lower tray 50 and is not necessary for the uppertray 60. Accordingly, the size of the apparatus may be decreased and thecosts for the apparatus may be decreased in the recording apparatusincluding two or more trays.

Note that the stopper 60 c of the upper tray 60 pushes upward the rockmember 11 when the upper tray 60 is moved to the abutting position inits mounting direction in the mounted state of the lower tray 50 (i.e.,in the state in which the feeding roller 10 contacts the sheet P1 storedin the lower tray 50). In addition, if the lower tray 50 is mounted inthe state in which the upper tray 60 is positioned at the abuttingposition in its mounting direction, the lower tray 50 causes the slider43 to slide in the mounting direction but the rock member 11 has beenpushed by the upper tray 60 upward. That is, because the leverengagement portion 11 c of the rock member 11 is positioned at aposition upward from the first lever 41, the first lever 41 descends butthe rock member 11 does not rock.

With respect to the angle formed by the stored sheet and the rock member11 (i.e., an angle α in FIG. 6 (a wedge angle)), the angle α formed bythe stored sheet P2 in the upper tray 60 and the rock member 11 issmaller than the angle α formed by the stored sheet P1 in the lower tray50 and the rock member 11. In addition, if a large number of sheets arestored, the wedge angle becomes small compared to a case where a smallnumber of sheets are stored. If the wedge angle becomes small, the forceof contact between the feeding roller 10 and the sheet P becomes small.As a result, the phenomenon of nonfeed tends to occur. Note that thewedge angle α is, in a strict sense, an angle formed by a line extendingfrom the position at which the feeding roller 10 and the sheet P contacteach other to the axial center position of the pivot shaft 12 and therecording surface of the sheet P.

In the exemplary embodiment, a coil spring 37 (FIGS. 11 and 12) isprovided, which is a roller pressing portion for pressing the feedingroller 10 toward the sheet P2 stored in the upper tray 60 when apredetermined number of sheets or more sheets P2 are stored in the uppertray 60. Two coil springs 37 are provided to correspond to the twofeeding rollers 10, which are provided on both sides of the transmissionreceiving gear 15.

More specifically, the rock member 11 is provided with the coil spring37 and the coil spring 37 may engage a spring pressing portion 34 a,which is formed so as to protrude from the frame 34 downwards. When apredetermined number of sheets or more sheets P2 are stored in the uppertray 60, the coil spring 37 engages the spring pressing portion 34 a.The coil spring 37 is configured so that the length of spring of thecoil spring 37 becomes shorter as the wedge angle becomes smaller.Accordingly, the nonfeed may be prevented because the contact forcebetween the feeding roller 10 and the sheet P2 is compensated for whenthe wedge angle becomes small as described above.

Note that the range of pivot of the first lever 41 illustrated in FIG. 8is regulated by a stopper (not illustrated) so that the first lever 41does not pivot further upward compared to the state of the first lever41 achieved when the feeding roller 10 is supported at the intermediateposition H2 (i.e., so as not to press the lever engagement portion 11 cupward). In other words, the pressing force from the coil spring 44 doesnot affect the force of contact between the feeding roller 10 and thesheet P2 applied when the sheet P2 is fed from the upper tray 60.Furthermore, because the first lever 41 releases the locking of theposture of the rock member 11 when the sheet P1 is fed from the lowertray 50, the force of contact between the feeding roller 10 and thesheet P1 is not affected, similarly to the above-described case.

Note that the above-described exemplary embodiment employs aconfiguration including two trays of the lower tray 50 and the uppertray 60. However, the invention is not limited to this. That is, morethan two trays may of course be respectively and detachably provided. Inaddition, the above-described exemplary embodiment employs aconfiguration in which the supporting portion 39 is provided to supportthe feeding roller 10 at the intermediate position H2 in the upper andlower trays-unmounted state. Accordingly, for the upper tray 60, theconfiguration for releasing the state of supporting the feeding roller10 at the predetermined position by the supporting portion 39 is notrequired.

However, if the upper tray 60 is also provided with the configurationfor releasing the state of supporting the feeding roller 10 at thepredetermined position by the supporting portion 39, the position ofsupporting the feeding roller 10 in the upper and lower trays-unmountedstate is not limited to the intermediate position H2. More specifically,in this case, the feeding roller 10 may be supported at a positionhigher than the position of the feeding roller 10 illustrated in FIG.14. In this case, for example, the feeding roller 10 may be supported ata position higher than the position of the feeding roller 10 when thefeeding roller 10 contacts the top sheet P2 in the state in which themaximum number of the sheets P2 are stored in the upper tray 60.

The entire disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-043986,filed Feb. 29, 2012, is expressly incorporated by reference herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A recording apparatus comprising: a recordingunit configured to execute recording on a recording medium; a lower trayconfigured to store a recording medium; an upper tray which is providedabove the lower tray and configured to store a recording medium; and afeeding roller capable of contacting each of the recording medium storedin the lower tray and the recording medium stored in the upper tray fromabove, wherein the lower tray and the upper tray are attached to anddetached from an apparatus body including the recording unit and thefeeding roller, independently from each other.
 2. The recordingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein in a state in which one of thelower tray and the upper tray has not been mounted to the apparatus bodyand the other of the lower tray and the upper tray has been mounted tothe apparatus body, the recording medium is fed by the feeding rollerfrom the other thereof.
 3. The recording apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the feeding roller is supported at an intermediate position,which is lower than a position of the feeding roller reached when thefeeding roller contacts a bottom surface of the upper tray and higherthan a position of the feeding roller reached when the feeding rollercontacts a recording medium set as a top sheet in the lower tray in astate in which a maximum number of recording media are stored in thelower tray, in a state of the upper tray and the lower tray beingdetached from the apparatus body.
 4. The recording apparatus accordingto claim 3, wherein in a course of moving the upper tray to an abuttingposition in a mounting direction, the feeding roller is displaced upwardfrom the intermediate position when the upper tray is moved, andsubsequently the feeding roller is allowed to descend to a position atwhich the feeding roller contacts the recording medium stored in theupper tray.
 5. The recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein ina course of moving the lower tray to an abutting position in a mountingdirection, the support of the feeding roller at the intermediateposition is released by the lower tray and the feeding roller is allowedto descend to a position at which the feeding roller contacts therecording medium stored in the lower tray.
 6. The recording apparatusaccording to claim 1, further comprising a discharged sheet-receivingtray shifting between a position in a state of being stored in theapparatus body and a position in a state of protruding from theapparatus body, wherein when the recording medium is fed from the uppertray or the lower tray, the discharged sheet-receiving tray is locatedat a position in the state of protruding from the apparatus body.